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Beatrice is the niece of Leonato, a wealthy governor of Messina. Though she is close friends with her cousin Hero, Leonato’s daughter, the two could not be less alike. Whereas Hero is polite, quiet, respectful, and gentle, Beatrice is feisty, cynical, witty, and sharp. Beatrice keeps up a “merry war” of wits with Benedick, a lord and soldier from Padua. The play suggests that she was once in love with Benedick but that he led her on and their relationship ended. Now when they meet, the two constantly compete to outdo one another with clever insults.
Although she appears hardened and sharp, Beatrice is really
vulnerable. Once she overhears Hero describing that Benedick is
in love with her (Beatrice), she opens herself to the sensitivities
and weaknesses of love. Beatrice is a prime example of one of Shakespeare’s strong
female characters. She refuses to marry because she has not discovered
the perfect, equal partner and because she is unwilling to eschew
her liberty and submit to the will of a controlling husband. When
Hero has been humiliated and accused of violating her chastity,
Beatrice explodes with fury at Claudio for mistreating her cousin.
In her frustration and rage about Hero’s mistreatment, Beatrice
rebels against the unequal status of women in Renaissance society.
“O that I were a man for his sake! Or that I had any friend would
be a man for my sake!” she passionately exclaims. “I cannot be a
man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving” (IV.i.
